The Colours of Her Heart Stuns Audience

To continue the theme of storytelling, the South Asia Center hosted renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Mallika Sarabhai, and her dance troupe, Darpana, on April 12, 2019 at the Everson Museum of Art. 

This dance-theatre-multimedia production used the haunting Urdu and English lyrics of British musician Samia Malik, the choreographic and directorial skills of Mallika Sarabhai, and the moving lighting effects designed by Yadavan Chandran to dramatize six women’sheart-wrenching stories that were based on the lived experiences of the dancers. Some of the pieces touched upon the stigma of being a woman in the performing arts. Others touched on sexual abuse and rape. 

Given the #MeToo movement and recent media attention to issues of gendered violence, the production was timely and thought-provoking, if not at times disturbing. In any case, it made an indelible impact on the audience.

This performance was made possible through co-sponsorships from across campus and throughout the community including the College of Arts and Sciences’ Ray Smith Symposium, the Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies, the Everson Museum of Art, Departments of Art and Music Histories and Women’s and Gender Studies, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Indian Community Religious and Cultural Center (ICRCC), and Syracuse University.